Staying
by shelma32
Summary: John was on his way back to collect Teyla from the Atlantis mainland, but he was in for a surpise. The person who did this as a jp with me is the person who is listed as: atlantisflygirl. I have 'fleshed' it out though.
1. Telling him

"Atlantis this is Jumper 2...eta from the mainland is 2 minutes. I should be able to find a clear spot to touch down and Teyla should be back in time for tea."

"Acknowledged Jumper 2."

"Right," John said altering the descent vector. "Here we go."

Teyla was sat in a hut in the village that her people had made for themselves. Halling was sat beside her. "Teyla... it is your decision." She looked at him and sighed. "I have decided". She answered, smiling slightly. "Good, it will be..." he was stopped by Jinto running into the hut."Theres a ship coming"!! He shouted at them excitedly.

Sheppard craned his neck to get a better look over the village as he passed over it. He had been there a few times since the Athosian people had first settled there when they had first found Atlantis, but he was still surprised by how much they were coming along.

Teyla and Halling rose from their seats and exited the hut, following Jinto out into the open. Teyla kept her head low as they walked, thinking of how she was going approach the subject of hers and Halling's conversation with the Colonel.

"Now..." John mumbled to himself as he saw a clearing. Slowly, he raised the nose of the jumper and set it down on the ground. Satisfied, Sheppard opened the rear and got out of his seat. In the distance he found Jinto running towards him. "Major Sheppard!"

Teyla followed Jinto out into the clearing, seeing John in the jumper, she smiled. It had been several days since she had seen any of her friends from the city and she was glad to see him. But her face fell when she thought of what she had to tell him.

"Actually," Sheppard said crouching down. "It's Lieutenant Colonel now." Jinto stared at him blankly. "And you have no idea what that means." He stood back up and looked to Halling extending his hand. "How ya doing?"

Halling looked at John's hand before taking it in his and shaking it. "Everything is fine... Colonel" he looked at Teyla, knowing that she would want to speak to John about their conversation. "I must return to the village now, Brianna still needs care". Teyla smiled and nodded as Halling left, before turning to look at John.

"Brianna," Sheppard said as Halling left then looked confused. "Do I know her?"

Teyla smiled at him. "She is the friend I came to visit. She has been unwell but thanks to the medicine Dr Beckett gave me, she is getting better" She hated lying to him but she didn't want to speak to him straight away about what she knew she had to. She wanted to tell him, but didn't know how to bring it up. Silently, she looked away.

"Carson's a miracle worker."

Teyla nodded as she moved away. "Yes" she said quietly.

"So...to Oz?" Sheppard asked, a small smirk on his face.

Teyla glanced back at him. "No..." she answered quietly, lost in her thoughts.

John laughed as he watched her.

"I meant time to go back to the city"?

"I know what you meant Colonel" Teyla answered, keeping her back to him.

Now Sheppard was confused. She didn't want to return? Had she not finished her business on the mainland?

Teyla sighed as she moved away from him some more.

"Are you telling me I flew 25 minutes for nothing?" John asked, confusion in his voice.

"I felt it better to say this in person" Teyla told him, keeping her back to him. _/How do I tell him the reason I wish to stay? Will he be offended/_

Sheppard was annoyed now; he was supposed to be going off world to Ronon to meet a man about a dog. Or at least that was the code for it.

Teyla drew in a deep breath before turning back to face John. "I have decided to stay with my people".

"Wha... I...why?" John asked, his hands moving from his hips to his arms folding in front of him. _/Why the hell does she want to stay? Does she mean permanently? What the hell is going on here/_

Teyla looked away again and began to walk back to the village, not knowing how to explain her reasons to him.

Putting his hands on his hips, Sheppard remained by the jumper and decided that enough of his time had been wasted. He didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to say to Teyla if he didn't know what the problem was in the first place?

Before she was out of sight from him, Teyla turned and looked at him once more. "I will not be returning... I am staying permanently".

Okay, that was a new one John thought. _/She wants to stay permanently? Why?! She's never given any of us any reason as to why she would want to stay here and leave the team…. She's just going to abandon the team/_

Teyla then turned and continued to walk away. Would he follow her?

Halling saw Teyla returning to the village and noticed her sad expression. He then looked to see if Sheppard was following her. When he saw that he wasn't, he frowned, knowing that if she had told him, Sheppard would have been following her.

Sheppard glanced back to the jumper then back to Teyla. As she entered an empty hut. Obviously something was wrong and she wasn't about to share it with him. Instead, he walked back inside the jumper and sat down before bringing communications online.

Teyla sat inside the hut and looked around. She wanted to tell him what why she had decided to stay with her people, but she didn't know how to start. Looking up at the door, she knew saw that he wasn't following her.

"Right," he said hitting a button. "Atlantis...this is Sheppard."

Elizabeth walked out of her office and into the control room, standing next to Chuck and nodded to the technician, indicating for him to press the button that opened the line of communication.

"Yes Colonel"? She answered.

John sighed, did anyone know of Teyla's decision?  
"Elizabeth… Teyla has just told me that she wants to stay on the mainland…. Permanently". Elizabeth was shocked slightly by the statement.  
"Permanently… why"?

"I have no idea. I was hoping that you knew something," he told her as he rested back in the seat. Elizabeth looked up at the Stargate as she tried to think. Had Teyla given her any inclination that she might want to leave the city?

Just as she was about to speak again when she saw Carson walking past her. They both smiled at each other in acknowledgement, but he seemed to be avoiding a conversation as he quickly moved away from her. Elizabeth raised her eyes brow as she turned back towards the main console.  
"I really have no idea John. She hasn't given me any reason as to why she would want to stay".

John sighed as Elizabeth spoke. He had hoped that she had some idea of why Teyla didn't want to return.

Teyla breathed in deeply as she sat by herself. She looked around the hut again. "This is to be home now"? She asked herself quietly, wanting to speak to John and tell him her reasons. Knowing that he deserved at least some reason, she stood up and walked out of the hut, standing just outside the entrance.

Sheppard sat back in his seat, putting one hand to his chin as he thought. _/Why does she want to stay? God damn I should have seen some reason… i'm supposed to be her friend, I should know these things…. /_

_/Should I speak to him? They have to have some reason why I am saying... will they accept anything... I don't know how to speak to him... /_ Teyla looked at Halling as she stood still, thinking to herself.

Looking through the screen at the sky, Sheppard considered his options. He wanted to get out of the jumper and ask Teyla but he knew that that might make matters worse.

Teyla looked at Jinto as he walked past her. "Has the jumper left for Atlantis"? She asked the young boy.

"No... Major...Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard is just sitting there."

Teyla nodded. "Thank you Jinto" she said before looking in the direction of the jumper. Breathing in, she decided that he needed an explanation.

John covered his face with his hands. What do I do? He asked himself as he sat there.

Teyla slowly walked towards the jumper, trying to decide how to tell him why she wanted to stay.

He decided that the best course of action would be to go back to the city and see if there were any clues there. Sheppard hit the button for the ramp.

Teyla saw the ramp beginning to rise. "JOHN"!! She shouted, hoping he heard her as she began to run towards the jumper.

The ramp closed but fortunately John had heard her. Immediately, he hit the button once again but remained seated.

Teyla breathed a sigh of relief when the ramp went down again and she walked up it slowly. He turned around to face her, hoping that she would now tell him why she wasn't returning to the city with him. She looked at her friend and went to speak, but she didn't know what to say to him. Instead, she looked down.

"Something you need?" he asked her firmly.

Teyla stared at him. Did he not care that she was staying behind and that he may never see her again?

Inhaling deeply, he glanced back to her. "Well?" he asked gently. Waiting for her to explain herself, waiting for her to tell him why she was abandoning his team.

Teyla sat down on the bench in the rear of the jumper and looked down at her hands. How was she supposed to tell him? How was she supposed to tell anyone? It wasn't something that she had prepared for.

"I'm waiting Teyla," he said calmly.

She closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself. Teyla wanted to tell him why she wanted to stay. "I... I..." but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Sheppard turned around to face her fully.

"I'm... I am..." Teyla shook her head and turned her neck so that she was looking away from him, not wanting him to see the tears that were beginning to form.

"Running away?"

"NO"!! She shouted as she continued to look away from him, the tears beginning to fall.

"Then what Teyla..." John asked, his concern growing.

Teyla looked back at him so that he could see the tears. "Because..."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes as he looked at her before saying softly: "What's going so bad that you've decided to up and leave us."

Teyla looked back down at the floor once more, her body shaking from the realisation of what it was. "I am... I am dy..." she looked back up at him before looking to the back of them jumper, wanting to run away from the reality of the situation.

"Teyla..." he pleaded. _/Please tell me Teyla… /_ he had never seen her like this before and it scared him, making him want to know her reasons even more.

She looked back at him. "I am dying..." she said before getting up and quickly walking out of the jumper.


	2. You can't be!

"What?" _/She's dying? Did I hear her right? She can't be… what the hell?!?!/ _John shot out of his seat and seized a hold of her arm. "What?!"

Teyla looked down at John's hand. "Please... colonel..." she said through the tears. She hated seeing the look on his face that was there now. The look of surprise and alarm.

"Tell me." John pleaded, desperate to know more. _/Please… Teyla… please tell me, you can't be dying…/_

Teyla turned to face him, but kept her head down, hating for him to see her so emotional. "I am dying Colonel".

"I gathered that much..." John answered, concern growing in his voice.

Teyla bit her lip as she finally looked up at him. "Dr Beckett recently discovered that my wraith DNA is beginning to destabilise... and that I do not have long to live".

His face fell at that information. "Why didn't you tell me?" _/And why the hell didn't Carson tell me? Tell any of us?! We should have known!!/_

"Because I did not want to believe it... That is the real reason I came to the mainland. To ask Halling whether it has happened before..."

"And..." he asked, not really wanting to hear her answer.

Teyla breathed in deeply, trying to steady herself. "And it has..."

Sheppard hadn't wanted to hear that. _/Please let her be okay. This isn't happening… its some kind of sick and twisted dream… Teyla can't die… she can't/_

"There is nothing that can be done". She told him. Truth be told, she had already started to feel the effects, but she didn't want to tell anyone.

"But Carson...he is...he can...surely..." John said, struggling to speak. The thought of Teyla dying was shaking him right to his very core.

"He said that he will carry on looking but..." she then turned and began to move away from him, not wanting him to see her hands shaking, or the tears that were now running down her face freely.

Sheppard lowered his gaze. That had to be something that could be done; he wasn't just going to let her die. There was no chance of that happening.

Teyla clasped her hands together trying to stop them from shaking.

_/This is all too much to take in, Teyla can't die she's… she's like...Wonder Woman or something…. She can't die…/_ John stood with his hands on his hips, looking around them as if there would be some kind of answer in the trees or sky. _/There has to be something. /_

She stopped walking and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. Her whole body was beginning to shake; her stomach felt like it was being beaten around inside of her.

She couldn't really be dying...could she? John couldn't believe that Teyla, one of the closet friends he had ever had was dying and that there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. _/There isn't no way I'm going to let her die… I'm gonna go out there and find some kind of cure… there has to be something somewhere and I'm not going to give up until I find it/_

Teyla opened her eyes. Everything seemed to be spinning around her. _/Please… not now… don't let it happen now… let me say goodbye to them first… not yet._

Teyla went to move towards John once more but instead, she collapsed unconscious in a heap on the grass.

John heard a thud and spun round, seeing Teyla lying on the floor. _/Oh Jesus no!!!/ _"TEYLA"!!! He cried out, running to her side. Once there, he kneeled down and looked over her. _/Come on Teyla!! Not now… don't you dare die on me now!!/_

Her body lay unconscious of the floor, shaking.

Sheppard didn't know what to do. Instead, he called out.

"HEY!! SOMEBODY HELP"!! He cried. _/please somebody help/._

Jinto heard Johns voice and came running. When he saw Teyla he ran to her. "TEYLA"!! He cried out as he knelt beside her.

"Jinto...I need you to get your father." John asked the little boy calmly.

The boy looked up at John, panic and tears on his face. He nodded, before running back to the village, all the while calling his fathers name.

John looked back down at Teyla. "Come on...don't you give up on me."

Teyla's eyes opened slowly and she looked up at him. "John..." she said weakly.

"Hey." He replied, his voice shaking with worry and panic.

Teyla smiled at him, as her shaking began to increase.

Having been told what was happening by Jinto, Halling ran towards them.

"What happened"? He asked John as he crouched at Teyla's side, taking hold of her hand.

"You scared the hell out of me, that's what happened"!! John almost shouted at the athosian man, angry that no one had told him. He was holding tightly onto her hand.

Halling looked up at John, a sad and worried expression on his face.

"She told you..." he said sternly.

Sheppard looked up to him.

"NO she didn't…. of course she did!! I'm just a little pissed that no one told me earlier"!! _/CALM DOWN JOHN!!! Stop shouting for Christ's sake. Teyla's led in front of you dying, you don't have time to be angry/_

Halling looked down at Teyla. "Can you move"? He asked her softly.

Teyla shook her head "No..." She could barely feel anything.

He looked over Teyla, noticing her shaking. He had a grim expression on his face. "I had hoped that it had not advanced this far..." he said, looking up at John.

"It's bad?" John asked, swallowing hard, his eyes pleading with Halling to tell him otherwise.

Halling looked at John. "She does not have much time..."

John's face dropped as he looked at teyla. He forced his eyes to stay open. Forced the tears to stay down. He had to be strong for teyla, he knew that. He couldn't let her see how much he was being affected by her state.

Halling eyes looked back down at his friend. "We have to make her as comfortable as possible" he said, as he went to pick her up.

"Then we must prepare the Ring ceremony" he added quietly as he lifted her up.


End file.
